


An Aside

by WhirlwindWriter



Series: Happily Ever After Ending AU [3]
Category: The Property of Hate
Genre: 2 fics in 2 days. What?!, And I am mad that I couldn't fit that in., Buffalowings and Radio Static are canon here, But I will. Eventually I will., Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Happy Ever After AU, I had to correct myself on tenses like 50 times, I swear Time himself is screwing with my head, LITERALLY, My writing is still weird, The beginning could be seen as a little sad I guess, small angst?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-07 06:17:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17955179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhirlwindWriter/pseuds/WhirlwindWriter
Summary: “You got a plan, monster?”“But of course. Don’t I always?”





	An Aside

He stands there, watching the door like the girl he sent through might come back out. She doesn't.  _ Of course  _ she doesn't. She wanted to go home. She’s going home. They’d saved the world, and it’s time for the Hero to get her happily ever after. Cyan drips from his screen to the cloudy ground below. The people behind him watch the door too. They’d all come to wish her goodbye and give her a last bit of thanks for saving their existence. None of them knows really what they’re watching for, waiting for. 

“They’re not going to remember her. You realize that right?”

“I’m aware…” 

“You ruined her life to save ours. Way to go idiot box.”

He doesn’t respond, and the others don’t either, but they all know the ragdoll has a point. The silence is contemplative and mournful, and in his case, guilty and resigned. 

“You promised her it wasn’t goodbye, did you not?”

“Julienne please…”

“Yeah, ya know what, he did! So,” a brass hand claps down on his shoulder, “What’s the plan cuz?” 

“What do you mean ‘What’s the plan’?” He doesn’t look away from the door. “There is no plan. We’ve reached this story’s conclusion. The world is saved. The hero’s gone off to her happy ever after. We won. It's over.”

“Aw come on now,” RGB tenses at the feeling of his cousin leaning on him, using his head as an armrest of all things really now. “Y’all went ahead and saved the entire goshdarn world once ya set your mind to it. You’re not just gonna let that poor sweet little’un be all sad an’ alone in the big bad real world, right? Right! So,” Dial turns RGB around to face him and the group, “You got a plan, monster?” 

He looks around at them all. A collection of would-have-been heroes and characters born of imagination. Banged up, cut to pieces, damaged, but strong. Staring at him in anticipation, expectant. This world has changed them all, himself included. There’s no way they can go back but then… he is an expert at improvisation. The memory of a dream tugs at his mind, and a thought begins to form. Not even an idea yet but… 

Cyan is replaced by fuschia and green and just a touch of yellow. “But of course. Don’t I always?” 

It takes a good amount of collaborative effort, and assistance from all involved to make the thought an idea, and that idea into a full fledged plan. It takes a good bit of teamwork and life risking to make that plan come to fruition. And not everyone can apply the same tactics so in some cases new plans must be made. But they have the advantage of being in the world of Make Believe, where anything is possible if you can just believe it. And they push that advantage to its limits, and with help from everyone, they make the insane, impossible plan work. Tears are shed, and embraces shared.  Then, with a little help from Time, they're back at the door, only a few weeks after she left. They all wish the colorful world beyond the clouds a final farewell, and descend to a place where they are all long forgotten. 

Reality isn't any easier to come back to than it was to live in initially. And after so long outside of it, even with the little bits of magic they managed to bring back with them, it takes awhile for everyone to adjust and adapt. Luckily, Madras is an excellent business woman, and their little band of misfits happens to be made up of individuals with desirable talents, and those who can't just slip right back into their old jobs find similar positions fairly easily. Madras gathers enough funds to buy an apartment building rather quickly, and the appreciation of having someplace to stay overlooks any concerns about the ethical nature of her methods. Once they've all gotten settled into place in this new world, RGB begins his search. It's been months now, nearly a year, it's time to bring their Hero home. 

He asks questions, combs the streets, visits spots that look like places she'd enjoy. His biggest lead comes from Melody, who comes home one day from a performance with her orchestra students, practically glowing as she signed at high speed to anyone who would listen that she'd seen Hero in the crowd of elementary school kids there on a field trip. The class had been rushed away and onto the school bus after the performance,  but Melody insisted it had been her.

This lead takes him across the city, where he asks around again, getting closer and closer to finding her as he meets people who she's helped, every story he finds making him that much more proud of her. Once a Hero always a Hero. He makes an announcement on his show, telling his audience about how hard he's been searching for her, and how sorry he is that it's taken so long. It is the very next day that he finds the clue he needed, and drives to the park with the hill. He climbs up, and looks into the branches of the tree. And there she is, curled up and half asleep. He can hardly breathe, but he swallows back his joy, and calls up to her.

“Excuse me?” he calls, clearing his throat, “I say, excuse me? I'm sorry but, have you seen my Hero?"


End file.
